Best Laid Plans
by Rebecca Starflower
Summary: A story of arranged marriages, secret romances and lots of voldemort chasing. non mary-sue, non slash.
1. Beginnings

Best Laid Plans  
  
By Rebecca Starflower  
  
A/N: The first chapter of a new novel! Hooray! I have a new project! My infinite thanks to my darling Alex for beta-ing. It made the chapter a lot better. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter One: Beginnings  
  
It was a thick, moonless night, the kind where you can't see an inch before your nose and the silence around you is deafening. On this dark night, Draco lay restless in his bed, staring unseeingly at the ceiling of his four-poster bed. School began the next day: tonight was his last chance to go to a Death Eater meeting. He hadn't been called at all since he had been initiated on his sixteenth birthday the previous July; and he knew that once he got to Hogwarts, he wouldn't be able to apparate to meetings. He chafed his arm impatiently, willing it to burn, wishing fervently for the niggling pain. He sighed in aggravation and reached out to light a lamp. He lay still for a while watching the flames dance upon the walls. He eventually decided to continue writing his novel. Propping himself up on his pillows, he reached for a quill and parchment. He had barely written three sentences when a sudden pain in his arm made him drop his quill in surprise. He scrambled out of bed, muttering, 'Accio clothes,' as he clasped his wand. The robes flew into his hand and he hurriedly pulled them on. He thrust his wand into his pocket as he threw himself into the hallway, pelting down the stairs to meet his father standing in the grand foyer. If Draco had expected praise for his speed, he would be disappointed. Lucius gave him only a cold nod before roughly grasping Draco's wrist and apparating them away from the mansion.  
  
'I can't wait 'til I'm 18,' Draco thought for a glum moment, before landing somewhere in the middle of nowhere. He looked around at the circle of dark hooded figures, before his eyes rested on two shapes in the centre of the group. One was small and hunched over, his eyes staying firmly on the ground. The other was tall and majestic; his head seemed to move imperiously. His eyes, two glowing red embers in the shadow of his hood, raked the circle - counting. After a while a forked tongue darted out and a hiss of pleasure filled the air. Draco shivered in respectful fear.  
  
'Thank you for your swift arrival,' Voldemort hissed, lowering his hood to display his white skin to the moonless sky.  
  
'However, I only need the Malfoys and the Averys tonight. You may leave.' With a dismissive wave of his hand, he watched the other Death Eaters disapparate. Alone with the two death eaters and the dark lord, Draco suddenly noticed the unknown figure standing with them. The unknown person was tall and lithe, but the cloak covered most of their body. Draco involuntarily cocked an eyebrow -what was going on? Voldemort noticed his expression and laughed, a high unnatural sound. Draco winced slightly, but quickly made his face an impassive mask.  
  
'Would you care to explain to your son what is happening, Lucius?'  
  
'Yes, my Lord. Draco,' he said in a business-like tone, turning to face his son. 'Our Master has been kind enough to arrange a marriage for you.'  
  
Draco went into temporary shock. 'I'm-I'm sorry?!' he sputtered.  
  
'Our Master has arranged a very advantageous marriage for you. You should be very grateful.'  
  
Draco couldn't speak. His mind was buzzing. 'An arranged marriage?' he thought frantically. 'What is this, the Middle Ages? It's 1996 for God's sake!' His thoughts were interrupted as he realised his father was speaking to him.  
  
'I said, thank your kind master,' Lucius repeated icily. The next thing Draco knew he was floating.something.some*one* was saying something.just say thank you.say thank you.so easy, just say it.'Yes.' Draco thought.  
  
'Thank you,' he said aloud, as if from a great distance. And just like that, he was himself again and his father was pocketing his wand.  
  
'Very good,' Lucius said remarked coolly. 'Now allow me to introduce you to your bride.' The mysterious figure stepped forward. 'This is Mariette Vert, daughter of Francois Vert. He was one of our circle who was killed by an Auror,' Lucius wrinkled his nose disdainfully at the word, 'and our Mr Avery has brought her over from the wizarding school in France. Well, show yourself, girl!' he snapped when the figure remained still and hooded. Almost reluctantly, it seemed, a pair of shapely hands reached up and pulled down the hood, releasing a shower of silver-blonde hair. She lifted her chin and pushed her hair over her shoulder. Draco looked appraisingly at her: she had pale skin, blue eyes surrounded by thick dark lashes and a small pouting rosebud mouth. She had an indignant set to her chin, which Draco found somewhat unappealing, along with a large square nose which seemed to stick out incongruously from her face. He noticed that she, too, was looking over him, one eyebrow imperiously arched. Draco scowled at her and she scowled right back. He grinned inwardly; she might be a match for him after all.  
  
'She could be a stunner,' Draco mused, 'if only it weren't for that awful nose.why doesn't she try a concealing spell.' His eyes glazed over as his thoughts wandered. All the other girls he'd been with before were exotic, perfect brunettes, without a single unattractive feature on their body. Indeed, some of their features had been extremely attractive.but no, Draco had never had a blonde.  
  
'Maybe it's because she would remind me too much of myself,' he contemplated. After all, there are times when your own person can't satisfy you.which is when he'd call in the brunettes. He suddenly realised that once again he hadn't been paying attention.  
  
'.You will not be required to marry at once, of course,' Lucius was saying smoothly. 'We thought it would be wise to tell you now, to allow you to get to know each other.'  
  
'Um.right.thanks,' Draco stuttered, dazed.  
  
'You are quite welcome,' Voldemort said intoned, breaking his silence.  
  
'Is there anything else, my Lord?' Lucius asked reverently.  
  
'No, Lucius. You may all leave.'  
  
One by one they disapparated.  
  
So, first chapter. Tell me what you think: please review.  
  
Next chapter will be up in a week or so, maybe more.  
  
Thank you! I love you all! 


	2. Returnings

Best Laid Plans  
  
By Rebecca Starflower  
  
A/N: beta-ed again by the delightful Alex. And to everyone reading this, I love you!  
  
Chapter 2: Returnings  
  
The ceiling shimmered with a million stars as the students tucked in to their homecoming feast. In the middle of the Slytherin table, surrounded by friends and admirers, Draco was telling the tale of his arranged marriage. Even now he bristled at the thought of it. The indignity of having your wife chosen for you! And she wasn't even pretty, not really. Pansy and Blaise particularly supported this view. They were both distraught by the news that their favourite lover was going off the market; their eyes promised him many 'last' flings. He smiled inwardly, knowing there was a good reason for revealing his father's plan.  
  
Across the room, Ron was glaring at Draco suspiciously.  
  
'What do you think he's up to?' he said.  
  
'Who?' Harry asked around a mouthful of mashed potato.  
  
'Malfoy,' Ron answered. 'We haven't had our annual train visit from our little friend.'  
  
'So?' Hermione shrugged. 'Maybe he got bored.'  
  
'Bored?' Ron said incredulously. 'Malfoy? Hermione, have you forgotten the malice of our favourite Slytherin? Have you forgotten his name for you?'  
  
Hermione gave him a withering look and went back to her dinner.  
  
'I'm serious, Harry,' Ron tried again. 'He must be planning something.'  
  
'Um.yeah,' Harry said distantly, staring in Hermione's direction.  
  
'Harry? Harry?' Ron waved a hand in front of the boy's face. Harry shook his head.  
  
'What?'  
  
'Are you ok?'  
  
'Yeah, I'm fine. Look, dessert,' Harry said brightly. The distraction worked: Ron disappeared into a bowl of ice cream. Harry rolled his eyes and went back to gazing at the space occupied by Hermione's head.  
  
***  
  
Late that night clouds flew overhead, house elves scurried around in the basements and Draco and Blaise made "love" in his private bedroom, a privilege that came with being a prefect. Afterwards they lay in each others arms and Draco mused to her ways to get rid of Mariette.  
  
'Ooh, set Potter on her!' Blaise giggled. 'He'd kill her and get himself killed at the same time!'  
  
Draco laughed with her, but secretly adopted the idea and stored it in his mind. 'Get Potter to do it.' he thought. 'Hmm.'  
  
***  
  
Many weeks later the bell went to signify the end of the potions lesson. Draco positioned himself in front of Harry's desk as he packed away his cauldron. Harry looked up in surprise.  
  
'Malfoy,' he said, frowning slightly.  
  
'Potter, I need to speak to you,' Draco drawled non-commitedly, glancing at his watch. Harry motioned to Hermione and Ron that he would catch them up, and followed Draco out of the room.  
  
'So what do you want?' Harry asked, clutching his books to his chest as he leaned against the wall.  
  
'I have a proposition for you.'  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow.  
  
'There is someone I need you to get rid of. She is very.inconvenient to me.' Draco frowned inwardly as he noted that Harry had assumed a look of shock.  
  
'Wh-what?' Harry sputtered. Draco rolled his eyes.  
  
'I need you to kill Mariette Vert. She is the daughter of a Death Eater, if that helps.'  
  
'N-no, it doesn't help! What the hell made you think I would kill someone for you? What the hell made you think I would kill someone, full stop?!' Harry exploded. Draco waved his hands to indicate to him to quieten down.  
  
'Well, there was Cedric Diggory.'  
  
The colour drained from Harry's face.  
  
'You.you dare.' he whispered hoarsely. He swung his fist and felt it connect with Draco's face, not even registering the crash as his books hit the floor. The texts bounced across the ground, settling a few feet away from the struggling pair. A moment later Snape came rushing out of the classroom.  
  
'What is going on here?' he said, his voice as sharp as acidic knives. Harry and Draco pulled away from each other as if they had been stung.  
  
'He started it,' Draco muttered sulkily. Harry was about to defend himself but remembered what had spurred him on to punch Draco, and fixed his gaze onto the floor.  
  
'Is this true?'  
  
Harry sighed.  
  
'Yes,' he said tonelessly.  
  
'Well then,' Snape said coldly. 'Twenty points from Gryffindor and detention tomorrow evening.'  
  
Harry scowled as Snape spun and stalked back into the classroom. Draco slowly got to his feet and dusted himself off.  
  
'So, what do you say?'  
  
'Get bent, Malfoy,' Harry said venomously.  
  
***  
  
Ron was sleeping soundly days later. He dreamt of red hair, of strawberries and creamy skin. He sighed happily and burrowed further into the bed.  
  
'Allo? 'Allo? 'Arry? 'Arry Potter?'  
  
Ron jerked awake and tore at the hangings of his bed. He looked wildly about the room before his eyes lit upon the fireplace. More precisely, the head inside the fireplace.  
  
'Fuck!' Ron exclaimed. 'Who the hell are you?'  
  
'Allo,' the head said. 'I am Mariette Vert. Are you 'Arry Potter?'  
  
'Erm.no,' Ron said, rubbing at his eyes to ascertain the fact that he was awake. 'I'm Ron Weasley, a friend of 'Arry's. Harry's,' he corrected himself, frowning.  
  
'Where is 'Arry? I must speak to him.'  
  
'Um.I'll go and get him.' Ron rose and started to leave the room, but stopped when Mariette called him back.  
  
'Wait! Can I come in?'  
  
'Sure.' Ron watched as she climbed through the fireplace and perched on the end of the bed. Ron couldn't take his eyes off of her, but finally managed to tear his gaze away and back out of the room, leaving Mariette alone.  
  
End of chapter two. Reviews are always appreciated. 


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